Huskers-USC Set for Prime Time ABC Telecast

Nebraska and USC will clash in a night game at memorial Stadium on Sept. 15.

Photo by Scott Bruhn/Nebraska Communications

Nebraska and Southern California will play in prime time before a national television audience for the second straight season this September. The Sept. 15 game will kick off at 7 p.m. CDT from Memorial Stadium and will mark the second straight year the clash between two of college football’s traditional powerhouses will be part of ABC’s Saturday Night Football television package.

The Nebraska-USC game is one of five confirmed games in the Saturday night television package. Additional Nebraska games could be selected for the Saturday night package six to 12 days in advance of the game day.

ABC will televise games in the 7 p.m. CDT window in 12 of 14 weekends between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, culminating with the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 1 from San Antonio. No prime-time games are planned for ABC on Sept. 8 and Oct. 13.

The game will be the fourth in the series between the two schools. Last season, USC defeated Nebraska, 28-10, in a contest at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The two teams also battled to a tie at the Coliseum in 1970, while USC won the only other meeting in Lincoln in the 1969 season.

Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan expects the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium for the USC game to be second to none.

“There is something special about a night game in Memorial Stadium,” Callahan said. “It should be a great show for ABC and showcase for our football program and our fans. Games like this are what make college football great.”

The USC-Nebraska contest will mark the fifth time in the last seven seasons Nebraska has had an ABC prime-time telecast of a non-conference game. In 2001, Nebraska’s home contest with Notre Dame was a night telecast on ABC, while both the 2002 and 2003 games against PennState were also ABC prime-time telecasts. In addition to the USC game, Nebraska was also a part of the ABC prime-time package last year in a road contest at IowaState.

The USC game is the second announced ABC telecast for Nebraska in 2007. The Huskers’ Nov. 23 regular-season finale at Colorado will also be televised nationally by the network. The game will be played on its traditional Friday after Thanksgiving date, with kickoff set for 11 a.m. CST. Additional televised games will be announced at a later date by ABC and the Big 12 Conference’s other television partners.